Dredd's housekeeper, Maria, gave him a brainbloom for his birthday, not realising that such things were illegal. Brainblooms were plants that looked like human heads that could be taught to imitate any sound. Dredd went in search of the source of the plants and the trail led him to Mrs Ma Mahaffy. Mrs Mahaffy had trained her brainblooms to emit an hypnotic humming sound. She hypnotised Dredd into killing himself in a road accident, but when he tried to ride his Lawmaster head-on into a truck, the truck driver managed to swerve out of the way. Dredd realised he'd been hypnotized and returned to the old woman and covered her brainblooms with riot foam before they could start humming again.